Reason, freedom, & democracy in Islam : essential writings of ʻAbdolkarim Soroush / translated, edited, and with a critical introduction by Mahmoud Sadri, Ahmad Sadri.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-229) and index.

Print version record.

In recent years Abdolkarim Soroush has emerged as one of the leading revisionist thinkers of the Muslim world. Translated into English for the first time, this book features a critical introduction by the editors and an original interview that reveals the intellectual biography of the author. It sets forth Soroush's views on such matters as the inevitablity of change in religion, the necessity of freedom of belief, and the compatibility of Islam with democracy.

Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Foreword -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1: Intellectual Autobiography -- 2: Islamic Revival and Reform -- 3: Life and Virtue -- 4: The Sense and Essence of Secularism -- 1. The Fundamental Rift between Tradition and Modernity -- 2. Secularism and Religion -- 3. Secularism and Modern Worldview -- 4. The Modern Primacy of Rights over Duties -- 5. The Roots of the Secularization of the Human Mind -- 6. The Social and Political Implications of Secularism -- 5: Doctrine and Justification -- The New Challenges of the Philosophy of Religion.

The Question of Justifiability of Religious Doctrines -- The First Proposition: Unjustifiability of the Doctrine -- The Second Proposition: Partial Justifiability of Ideas, Positive Evidence -- The Third Proposition: Partial Justifiability of Ideas, Negative Evidence -- The Fourth Proposition: Conditional Justifiability of Ideas -- Fifth Proposition: Full Verifiability of Ideas -- 6: Reason and Freedom -- 7: The Ethics of the Gods -- 8: The Idea of Democratic Religious Government -- Of Concordance of Reason ['Aql] and Revelation [Shar'] -- Of Respect for Human Rights.

9: Tolerance and Governance -- 1. The Principles of a Religious Democratic Government: A Synopsis -- 2. Shared Notions of Justice, Human Rights, and Limited Power in Democracy and in Religion -- 3. The Paradox of "Democratic Religious Government": A Critical Exchange -- 4. Is Faith Contrary to Tolerance? -- 5. The Inalienable Freedom of Faith Entails Freedom of Religion -- 6. Democracy: The Spirit and the Letter of Religion -- 7. Law, Religious Law, and Democracy -- 8. Religiosity, Rationality, and Democracy -- 9. Morality, Religious Morality, and Democracy -- 10. A Look Back and a Look Forward.

10: The Three Cultures -- The Significance of the National Culture and the Hazards of Nationalist Extremism -- Coming to Terms with Western Culture: Beyond "West Toxication" -- The Status of Islamic Culture in Iran -- A Final Note on the Difference between Servile Imitation and Critical Exchange -- 11: What the University Expects from the Hawzeh -- 12: Let Us Learn from History -- A Lesson in Epistemology: The Ahistorical View of Traditional Philosophy -- A Lesson in Philosophical Anthropology -- The Heuristic Value of Historical Evil.

Social Policy and the Insights of the Modern Philosophical Anthropology -- The Divine Prophets and Human Nature -- Notes -- Selected References -- Index.

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